Authors
Tatsuya Atsumi, Sang-Cheol Bae, Wen-Nan Huang, Yoshihiro Fukumoto, Edmund M Lau, Mengtao Li, Mandana Nikpour, Robert Bagnall, Petya Kodjamanova, Jingya Li, David Bin-Chia Wu, Yogeshwar Makanji
Published in
Modern rheumatology. Sep 09, 2026. Epub Sep 09, 2026.
Abstract
This study aimed to explore evidence related to long-term health outcomes for patients with connective tissue disease (CTD)-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and any clinical practices associated with screening, early detection, and initiation of treatments.
We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of observational studies and randomised controlled trials of adult patients with confirmed CTD-PAH, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-PAH, systemic sclerosis (SSc)-PAH, and mixed CTD (MCTD)-PAH. Based on the findings from our SLR, we conducted a Delphi panel to develop recommendations and consensus around early detection and initiation of appropriate treatment for patients with CTD-PAH.
Sixty-three publications (54 studies and 9 guidelines) were included in the SLR, with 22 involving Asia-Pacific populations. Combination therapy reduced clinical worsening and mortality versus monotherapy. After three Delphi rounds, consensus was reached on the importance of early PAH screening in CTD, with disease-specific recommendations for SLE, SSc, and MCTD. Consensus was also achieved on appropriate treatments, including endothelin receptor antagonists (ERA), phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors, and pulmonary vasodilators. However, long-term outcomes remain uncertain due to limited evidence.
This study highlights the need for early screening and timely treatment initiation in CTD-PAH to potentially reduce adverse long-term outcomes.
PMID:
42714004
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 09 Sep 2026.
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